A Third Wheel Isn't Always Unnecessary
by SocialDegenerate
Summary: A chance meeting one day leads to Momoi and Kise becoming good friends, while something different develops between Kise and Aomine.
1. Harassment

It was starting to get dark as Momoi made her way home from the train station, keeping her head held high and avoiding eye contact with everyone she passed. Ever since Teiko, she'd had to learn the best ways to keep random men from approaching her in the street, and she'd found that very obviously ignoring their presence was the easiest method to take.

Still, nothing ever worked one hundred percent of the time, and Momoi frowned as a boy with ratty, greasy hair fell into step with her.

"Hey, babe."

Not saying anything, Momoi kept her eyes forward, hoping that the guy would take the hint. He wasn't that much bigger than her, and her intuition placed him as annoying yet largely harmless, but she wasn't planning on humouring him.

"Didn't you hear me?" The hand that grabbed her upper arm too tightly made her wince and she stopped short, fighting to keep her expression neutral so that she didn't come across as willing, vulnerable _or_ aggressive.

"Please don't touch me," she said pleasantly enough, unsuccessfully trying to dislodge her arm.

"It's alright sweetheart," the guy grinned, and it was a truly unpleasant sight. "I just want you to come join me and some friends for the night."

Pulling a little harder yet still unable to break his grip, Momoi forced a polite smile as she declined with a firm, "No thank you."

"Don't be like that!" The stranger's expression hardened, and just as Momoi was wondering how hard she should kick him in the balls, she found herself being forced a few steps back as someone appeared between them, forcibly removing the first guy's grip on her arm.

"Hey Momocchi, who's your friend?"

The cheerful voice didn't sound particularly threatening, but as Momoi looked up at her blond saviour, she knew that the creepy stranger was in trouble. She'd spent enough time with Kise to recognise his darker side.

"The fuck are you, pretty boy?" The stranger spat, letting Kise's designer clothes and feminine features overrule the fact that the blond probably had five inches in height on him, not to mention quite a lot of sleek muscle.

"I _am_ pretty, aren't I?" Kise grinned, making Momoi turn away and cough in an effort to hide her own smile. "But I think you should probably keep moving."

Kise's upbeat tone didn't waver, but only an idiot would miss the seriousness of his suggestion. Apparently the stranger _was_ an idiot, because he drew a hand back, quite clearly about to throw a punch. It was only because of Momoi's trained eyes that she saw what happened next, Kise shifting forwards incredibly quickly and sinking a fist into the guy's stomach, making him double over with a pained groan.

"Get out of here."

Hearing such a cold voice coming from Kise made the hairs on the back of Momoi's neck stand up, and she shivered as Kise turned to face her, eyes still narrowed with dangerous intent in the split second before they softened to his usual cheerful demeanour.

Momoi had to look away for a moment, focusing instead on the stranger stumbling as he disappeared off down the street. By the time she looked back at Kise, he was watching her with wide, worried eyes, allowing her instincts to calm down.

"Are you okay, Momocchi?" He asked, and Momoi made herself forget the harshness of his previous expression, knowing that this was just Kise and she was perfectly safe.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Ki-chan." Gently patting him on the arm, Momoi couldn't help but smile as Kise grinned at her, his entire face lighting up with genuine happiness.

"I hope you don't mind, I know you can take care of yourself but you shouldn't have to get your hands dirty with people like that."

Kise looked a little shocked as Momoi suddenly grabbed him in a tight hug, pressing her face against his chest and enjoying the smell of his expensive cologne. It was just so nice for her to hear that someone believed she could do something for herself that wasn't investigating, and also that she deserved to be looked after: most people seemed to assume that she was completely useless without Aomine looming over her shoulder, and although she knew he appreciated her, he would _never_ say as much.

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Kise asked as he patted her on the back, feeling her nod against his chest. Letting go, Momoi started in the direction of her house, Kise a reassuringly cheerful presence beside her. She let him chatter on for a while, only interrupting once the weirdly coincidental nature of the evening finally occurred to her.

"Why are you out this way, Ki-chan?"

"Oh! Well I went to an exhibition over here with Kurokocchi, but then Kagamicchi appeared and they went out for dinner, so I figured I should just go home and was heading for the station when I saw you." Kise's smile wavered for a second, and Momoi could relate; ever since Kuroko and Kagami started dating in second year, it felt like Kuroko had a lot less time for anyone who wasn't his redheaded boyfriend.

Momoi had learnt to be fine with the fact that Kuroko was never going to be her boyfriend, but there was a sadness in Kise's eyes that reminded her of just how lonely the blond seemed to be under his exaggerated joy.

If she had Aomine, Kuroko and Kagami had each other, Midorima had Takao, Murasakibara had Himuro, and Akashi was, well, _Akashi_, then who did Kise have? The screaming girls who gathered around him could hardly be considered friends, and the current Kaijou team seemed to keep a polite distance between themselves and their ace.

Feeling her heart break a little for the boy who just so obviously wanted to be treated like something other than an annoyance, Momoi made sure to keep her voice casual as she asked, "Would you like to have dinner at my house and spend the night? I got Dai-chan to agree to go shopping tomorrow and I think you'd be a massive help, if you want to come."

Kise brightened almost immediately, until a flash of wariness toned down the intensity of his beaming smile. "...Only if you're sure I wouldn't interrupt your time with Aominecchi."

Apparently still feeling the sting of being dismissed as a third wheel, Kise fiddled awkwardly with his earring, and Momoi just didn't understand how such an adorable creature seemed to be alone so often.

"Of course not," she reassured, turning her gaze forward as they walked. "Dai-chan will be grumpy that I'm making him buy something other than basketball shorts, so it'll be nice to have someone to talk to while he sulks."

"...Thank you," Kise said quietly, pulling out his phone to message his mother and tell her he wouldn't be home. "Will your parents be okay with me staying?"

"Dai-chan has a bad habit of appearing without warning and demanding to be fed, so we always have plenty of extra food. And they won't mind you sleeping over, just as long as you don't try anything that would make Dai-chan want to hurt you."

The way that Kise flushed and stuttered at her teasing confirmed Momoi's information, and she hid her vindicated smile from the blond next to her.

"I'm not...I _wouldn't_...I don't like...um...women," Kise damn near whispered, and Momoi was suddenly struck by the thought that she may have been one of the first people Kise had ever come out to. She felt bad about practically cornering him into the confession, but it was too late for her to take it back now, and so she briefly let her fingers brush against his.

"It's okay, Ki-chan, I already know."

"How do y-...Oh, right. Of course _you_ know," Kise laughed, sounding like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. They were both quiet for the last couple of minutes it took to get to Momoi's house, Kise recognising the building from the rare few occasions he'd needed to visit Aomine just down the street.

Momoi called her greetings as they entered the house, introducing Kise to her mother when she came out to greet them. Despite the fact that Kise proceeded to spend the evening charming her parents with his not-entirely-genuine public face, Momoi could tell that he was legitimately happy to have been included, and she knew that she would have to make an effort to spend more time with the pretty blond.

Not only did she genuinely appreciate the company of someone who saw her as more than a pair of tits, while also _not_ being Aomine, but she also figured that it would be good for her long-time friend to rebuild some of the relationships he'd shattered with his apathy. Since his Winter Cup defeat eighteen months ago, Aomine had definitely been better, but he still hadn't managed to completely reconnect with his old friends.

Momoi's mind was whirring as she laid back in her bed, Kise already asleep on a futon in one corner of the room. It hadn't taken any effort to convince her parents to let the male sleep in her room, as she assumed that her mother had sized up the blond and come to the same conclusion that Momoi had quite some time ago, and that had been confirmed for her just hours earlier.

She just wanted all her friends to be happy, and she was damn well going to make it happen.


	2. Shopping

It was incredibly weird to be walking through Aomine's house with Momoi at his side, Kise decided. Aomine's mother hadn't seem surprised by Momoi appearing early in the morning, but she hadn't been able to completely hide her shock that someone else had come to visit her son as well.

From what Kise remembered of the woman from previous visits back in middle school, she had the patience of an absolute saint and tried her hardest to keep Aomine interested in something, _anything_. Kise felt bad about unexpectedly entering her home, but Momoi had assured him that Aomine's mother was truly grateful to anyone willing to reach out to her often-difficult son.

"Dai-chan!" Momoi sang as she shoved Aomine's door open, letting light filter in and disturb the darkness. Kise could make out a lump of blankets in the middle of the western-style bed, Aomine grumbling loudly from somewhere underneath them.

"Up, up, up!" Grabbing the ends of the blankets, Momoi gave them an almighty tug, ignoring the way Aomine's grumbling got both louder and more irritated. Everything went slipping off the bed and Momoi dumped it on the floor, ensuring that Aomine couldn't possibly hide under it again.

"Oh my god!" Kise screeched, slapping his hands over his eyes when his brain processed what he had seen. Sure, he'd seen Aomine naked in the locker room before, but he definitely hadn't been expecting to cop an eyeful of Aomine's exposed dick while Momoi acted like this was nothing out the ordinary. "Why would you sleep naked?"

Actually, now that he thought about it, maybe this _wasn't_ unusual. Risking a peek through his fingers, Kise saw Aomine scratching casually at his stomach just above his patch of blue pubic hair and whirled around, promising himself that he wouldn't look again until he _knew_ that Aomine was dressed.

Momoi sounded legitimately distressed on Kise's behalf as she apologised over and over again, and if Kise didn't know any better, he would think that something was going on between the two for her to have seemingly forgotten that not everyone often saw their friends naked.

"Why's he even here?" Kise heard Aomine grunt as mattress springs squeaked, Momoi apparently successful in her attempts to get Aomine into a standing position.

Kise didn't turn around, letting Momoi answer while he tried to avoid getting the image of Aomine's cock burnt into his memory. "He's coming shopping with us, of course. Now hurry up and put these on."

"If he's going then why do you need me? It's Sunday, you should let me sleep."

"We can't buy you clothes without you being there," Momoi replied, sounding exasperated. "Ki-chan, it's safe to turn around now."

Taking a deep breath, Kise turned around, only letting it out when he saw Aomine standing there in cargo pants and a sleeveless shirt. When dark blue eyes met his own, Aomine winked and even though Kise knew he was being mocked, he still felt his cheeks burn.

"Quit staring, you've had your free show."

"Dai-chan," Momoi warned, hands balled on her hips as she glared up at her friend. "Be _nice_."

Momoi didn't seem bothered by the insults that Aomine muttered under his breath as he tucked his wallet and phone into his pockets, and so Kise ignored them too, realising that it was just part of their usual dynamic.

It felt a little uncomfortable to be intruding on their day, but Momoi seemed to genuinely want him there and so Kise let his discomfort roll off his back.

It soon became perfectly obvious _why_ Momoi had invited him as they made their way to the station and then onto the train. Aomine barely made any sounds beyond yawns the entire time, but Momoi was animated and bubbly as she discussed everything from basketball and school to celebrity gossip and fashion trends with Kise.

Kise was slowly beginning to realise that Momoi probably didn't have too many friends outside of Aomine, and he wouldn't have been surprised to find out that other people were envious of her looks and her intelligence. He vaguely remembered something like that happening at Teiko, where some of the students started vicious rumours regarding the girl who spent most of her time with the male basketball team, despite the fact that Momoi had never shown interest in anyone who wasn't Kuroko.

People could be so cruel, Kise reflected as he told Momoi about the time he'd met an actor she really liked, enjoying the way her face lit up upon learning that the man was just as friendly as he seemed.

When the train stopped at the correct station and they made to get off, Kise felt Momoi's arm link with his and he smiled, enjoying the purely platonic contact even as Aomine rolled his eyes and made derisive comments.

"Don't be jealous, Dai-chan," Momoi announced as she led the two boys towards the first store. "It's not every day that I get to have a model on my arm."

Coming from anyone else, Kise would have thought that it was the same nonsense he heard from his fan club: proof that people wanted him around because of what he did more than who he was as a person. He could tell that Momoi was just stirring Aomine though, and in any case, he knew that she thought his basketball was _far_ more important than his modelling work.

Momoi only let him go when they entered the store, immediately sending Kise off in search of pants while she looked at shirts. Despite the fact that Kise would usually have had the time of his life choosing clothes for someone else, he was finding it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand.

Every time he held something up and tried to imagine how it would look on Aomine, he just kept circling back to how the man looked naked. Even reminding himself that it was _Aomine_ and he was just _terrible_ barely helped at all.

In the end, he just grabbed a couple of pairs of jeans that he thought might fit without being too tight, because it couldn't be comfortable trying to fit something that big in-

Kise could have screamed, but he bit his tongue and made his way back to where Aomine was following Momoi around and looking every bit the bored boyfriend people probably thought he was. Dumping the jeans into Aomine's arms, quickly followed by Momoi doing the same with the shirts she was carrying, the pair of them ushered Aomine into the changing rooms and set up posts nearby.

"I can't play basketball in any of these," Aomine griped after a few minutes of silence, slamming open the door and stepping out in black jeans and a tight grey graphic T-shirt. Kise couldn't help but silently applaud his ability to accurately size someone, even if the jeans weren't quite as loose as he would have liked. They clung just a _little_ too well to Aomine's muscular thighs, making the blond swallow hard.

Momoi on the other hand was walking a circle around Aomine, pulling on fabric and adjusting things as she saw fit. "You're not _meant_ to play basketball in these, that's the whole point."

Aomine just scowled and crossed his arms, displeasure radiating from every pore on his body.

"Buy those jeans, but I think you should leave the shirt. Ki-chan?"

"Hmm?" Kise asked distractedly, belatedly realising that he was meant to be giving opinions that weren't just 'he looks hotter than he should'. "Oh, yeah, you're right, Momocchi."

Momoi's smile was uncomfortably knowing, Kise mumbling an excuse and wandering off to check out some of the racks he didn't get to. He left the appraisals to Momoi, feeling absolutely unsettled by how much Aomine was driving him to distraction.

Big dick or not, Aomine was a boob-obsessed jerk who only ever thought about himself. Well, except for that time he'd punched Haizaki. And the time he helped Kuroko learn to shoot. And all the times he'd stopped people from being mean to Momoi.

Fuck.

For the rest of the shopping trip, Kise had his head in the clouds even more than usual, trying to sort out his confused thoughts while not giving away anything more than he already had. Eventually Momoi sat the pair of boys down on a bench, Aomine carting around several bags and Kise having only one of his own, telling them to stay put while she did one last thing.

They both watched as she disappeared into a lingerie shop, Aomine rolling his eyes before slumping back on the bench, legs spread wider than any form of etiquette would ever allow. Kise could feel his body heat from how close they were, and was looking for a way out when he spotted a book store, making his excuses and practically running in.

When he finally made his way back to the bench, glossy magazine in hand, Aomine barely even reacted, continuing to idly watch the people walking past. It was only when Kise opened the magazine, flicking through it until he stopped on the first page of the fashion spread he'd done earlier in the month, that he felt Aomine shift ever so slightly.

A quick sideways glance showed that Aomine was trying to be nonchalant as he looked at the photos of Kise, and so the blond angled the magazine just a little more towards Aomine. The shoot had turned out really nicely, especially the shirtless photos that were apparently meant to highlight the watch on Kise's wrist. Aomine didn't offer any comments, but he didn't move away until Momoi returned and Kise shut the magazine, and so Kise was willing to count that as a win.

Because he apparently wanted the damn basketball idiot to pay attention to him.

"You finally done?" Aomine asked abrasively as he stood up, trying to look into the small bag Momoi was holding and lifting an arm to protect his face as she immediately swung it at him. "Dunno why you even bother with that stuff, not like anyone ever sees it."

"It's not _about_ other people," Momoi sniffed as she began walking away, the two boys catching up and bracketing her on either side as they headed back towards the station. "I just happen to like looking nice for myself."

Aomine scoffed, looking like that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard, and as the pair began to bicker Kise found himself laughing, chest feeling light and warm. Despite everything, he'd had more fun doing something outside of basketball than he had in a long time, and he hoped that Momoi and Aomine wouldn't tire of him too quickly.


	3. Gossip

The sun felt nice on Momoi's skin as she sat outside, eating her lunch and enjoying the peace that came from being alone. She was taking her time before she had to go and find where Aomine had disappeared off to, because classes didn't start for another half hour and she felt too good to move.

Head tipped back and eyes closed as she let the sun warm her face, Momoi couldn't help the stab of frustration she felt when someone called her name, a body stepping between her and the sun so that they cast a shadow over her.

Opening her eyes, Momoi recognised the interruption as a girl from her class who she'd never really spoken to. "Good afternoon, Fujimiya-chan."

"Hi, Momoi-chan. How are you?" Momoi smiled politely at the brittle-sounding attempt at friendly conversation, replying as neutrally as possible while she waited for the girl to get to her point. Somehow she didn't think this particular girl was wanting to know how to best ask Aomine out, which was surprisingly common among girls who claimed they could 'tame' him, but she could tell there was an ulterior motive at play.

"How was your weekend?"

"I went shopping with some friends," Momoi said as she mentally calculated how much longer she could stay before having to go fetch Aomine. It was a hassle, but he'd never go to class if she didn't corral him.

"Friends?"

There was something sharp in the other girl's tone, and so Momoi was wary as she confirmed that yes, she had been out with her friends, just as she'd said. There was an awkward silence while Fujimiya clearly psyched herself up, blurting out her next words in one big chunk.

"Are you dating Kise Ryouta?"

"..What," Momoi said flatly, wondering how the hell this girl even knew that she was acquainted with the blond.

The other girl pulled her phone out of her bag, pressing a few buttons before turning the screen towards Momoi. "Here."

On the small screen of the phone, the words were a little hard to see, but to Momoi it looked like some sort of blog site. Splashed across the centre of the screen was a low-resolution photograph, most likely taken with a phone camera, of a girl with pink hair and a tall, blond male.

"That's you with Ryouta, isn't it?"

Taken aback by the casual familiarity with which Fujimiya referred to Kise, Momoi looked closer at the photo, realising that it must have been taken the previous day when she'd had her arm linked with Kise's. Although it stung to realise that her privacy had been so blatantly breached, she quickly realised that she felt ten times worse for Kise, who probably had to deal with this sort of thing every day of his life.

"Kise-_kun_ is my friend," Momoi said as coldly as she could, emphasising the honorific so that Fujimiya would know that she had overstepped her boundaries. "I have known him for years, and I would recommend that you don't go spreading baseless rumours. I'm not dating him."

Snapping her phone shut, Fujimiya stared into Momoi's eyes and spat out, "_Good_."

Watching the girl turn and walk away, Momoi raised her eyebrows at how possessive her classmate had been about someone she didn't even know. Taking out her own phone, she typed in the address that she'd taken note of, barely able to stifle her laughter as she scrolled through the Kise fansite that managed to get ten facts wrong for every correct one.

She wasn't dating Kise, he wasn't half American, and he had _certainly_ never had plastic surgery. Rolling her eyes, Momoi worked out that she still had a few spare minutes, and copied the link to the post about her and the blond.

_To: Ki-chan_

_Subject: Wow_

_Message: Your fangirls are awfully creepy sometimes!_

Pasting in the URL, she sent off the message, putting the phone down and waiting for a reply. It didn't take long for her phone to vibrate against her leg, Kise always an extremely prompt texter.

_From: Ki-chan_

_Subject: Re: Wow_

_Message: Waaaaah! __(μ_μ) _

_I'm so sorry Momocchi, I should have guessed th__is__ would happen __(_ _) _

_I understand if you don't want to hang out with me any more_

To Momoi, that wasn't even an option. Kise was generally so infectiously upbeat that he was a pleasure to spend time with, plus he was very knowledgeable about the things he was interested in and was _far_ better to talk to than Aomine.

Not to mention that she was _very_ interested in the way she'd noticed Kise looking at Aomine, and wouldn't Fujimiya have been _destroyed_ to learn that Kise would never look at her or any other girl. Not that Momoi would ever out Kise, but it was still fun to think about their reactions.

_To: Ki-chan_

_Subject: Re: Re: Wow_

_Message: Don't be silly, Ki-chan! I'm flattered that people think I'm dating someone as beautiful as you._

_I know you don't have practice on Thursdays, would you like to have coffee after school? We can laugh about this together!_

Tucking her phone away, Momoi gathered her things and stood up, guessing that Aomine was sleeping on top of the main building. He always did whenever the sun was shining as nicely as it currently was.

Technically she wasn't supposed to be climbing the fire escape to the roof, but the few times she'd been caught by teachers all it had taken was a quick explanation before she was waved away. As sad as it was, Aomine was essentially untouchable by any teacher other than Harasawa, so all attempts by Momoi to correct his behaviour were welcomed by the majority of staff.

As expected, Aomine was sprawled out in the sunshine, head pillowed on his bag and eyes closed. Momoi nudged him in the side with her foot and waited impatiently for him to get up, checking her phone in the meantime.

_From: Ki-chan_

_Subject: Re: Re: Re: Wow_

_Message: __Thank you, I'd __like__ that a lot __ *:.__｡__.o(≧▽≦)o.__｡__.:* _

_Aominecchi doesn't deserve someone as wonderful as you __( ´ ▽ ` ) _

"I know," Momoi said quietly to herself as she shut her phone, nudging Aomine a few more times for good measure.

"Stop that," Aomine bitched as he rolled away, sleepily missing his improvised pillow and hitting his head against the hard concrete of the roof. Momoi just laughed as he sat up and rubbed his head, looking like the world had wronged him.

"It's time for class, Dai-chan. If you're late again then you might fail."

"They're not gonna fail _me_," Aomine replied, even as he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Regardless, you don't want to disappoint me, do you?"

"What makes you reckon I care about what you think?" Aomine snapped, but Momoi had known him for long enough to realise that he was essentially professing his undying friendship for her.

Grinning cheekily, Momoi whirled around and headed for the fire escape, making sure to listen for Aomine's footsteps behind her. Taking out her phone again, she fired off a quick reply to Kise, trying to sort out when and where they'd meet.

"Who are you texting?" Aomine suddenly asked, peering over her shoulder to get a look at the screen. Holding her phone close to her body, Momoi shook her head, not trying to be secretive but also not willing to indulge Aomine's lack of boundaries.

"...You get yourself a boyfriend?"

"None of your business," Momoi announced, still keeping her phone tucked away from Aomine. She wasn't expecting him to suddenly dart around her, his use of his speed and reflexes basically unheard of away from the basketball court. Her phone was out of her hands before she knew it, Aomine holding it up while fending off her slaps and grabs with one hand.

"Eh? It's just Kise?"

Suddenly bored, Aomine tossed the phone back towards Momoi, ignoring the way she glared at him as she rushed to catch it. "I _could_ be dating Ki-chan."

"No dating 'til university."

Raising an eyebrow, Momoi slapped at Aomine's arm as she walked past him, continuing on to class. "Please don't try and tell me what I can and can't do."

She wasn't entirely sure, considering the general noise of the hallway, but she could have sworn that she heard Aomine mutter something along the lines of, "None of these guys are good enough for you, anyway."

Biting her lip did nothing to stop the broad smile from growing on her face, and Momoi ducked her head as she ushered Aomine towards his classroom, not letting him out of her sight until he was seated at his usual desk.

He was a blunt, tactless asshole a lot of the time, but she would never trade her friendship with Aomine for anything.

Maybe one day she'd get to hold Kise in the same regard.


	4. Gatecrashing

Aomine was bored.

That wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but on top of being bored, he was _restless_. Training had been cancelled for the day, due to the coach being stuck in a meeting, and Momoi had decided to take the opportunity to get her homework done in advance.

Two years ago, he would have _loved_ an unscheduled day off, but two Interhighs and two Winter Cups on, all he wanted to do was get on the court and school the absolute hell out of some cocky first years.

But _no_, instead he was stuck in his last class for the day, leg fidgeting as he watched the clock. He supposed that he'd just find a street court and practice by himself for a bit, but when half the fun was in taking on new people and testing their skills, playing alone wasn't all that great.

When the idea hit him, he barely even thought about it before he swept everything into his bag, walking out of the class without a word to the teacher as she called after him. He'd catch hell for it later from Momoi or Harasawa, but it wasn't like he cared about school. The teacher should just be glad that he bothered to turn up in the first place.

The station wasn't far from Touou, and Aomine managed to doze for the hour or so he was on the train. By the time he was back on the street, school had been out for twenty minutes, and he had five ignored messages and three missed calls from Momoi.

The GPS on his phone let him know where he wanted to be going, and although he was a little lost once he got there, there were enough signs around the place that he found the Kaijou High basketball stadium easily enough.

He'd chosen Kaijou because...well...he didn't really know. Shuutoku was closer, but Midorima wasn't fun to go one-on-one against, what with his focus on distance shots. He didn't have that excuse for Kagami, and Seirin was _definitely_ closer than Kaijou...

So why Kaijou?

Deciding that it was probably just because Momoi had been hanging out with Kise over the past week or so, Aomine walked through the open door of the gym, grabbing a stray ball from the floor. He watched for a moment before anyone could realise he was there, not much actually happening from what he could tell.

Spinning the ball in his hand, Aomine spotted a familiar blond head, launching the ball he was holding towards it without a second thought.

Apparently Kise's self-preservation instincts were better than they used to be, because he threw a hand up at the last second, letting the ball stop against his palm and fall to the floor before bouncing away. He looked flustered as he frantically glanced around the court, though, and Aomine smirked when their eyes met.

"_Aominecchi!"_ Kise wailed, grabbing the attention of the rest of the team and their coach. "Why would you do that?"

Not bothering to answer, Aomine leant against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What do _you_ want?" Kaijou's current captain yelled, his face going red as he presumably remembered the sound thrashing Touou had handed them at the previous Winter Cup. It looked like he was going to run over until the coach waved him down, walking over to Aomine himself.

"This is certainly unexpected. Usually Harasawa warns me before his players invade my practice sessions."

"He didn't send me. I don't give a shit about your plays or whatever, I just felt like playing your team."

Over the coach's shoulder, he could see Kise trotting over, the smile on his face proof that he'd completely gotten over having a ball thrown at his head. "Oi, Kise, let's go one-on-one."

"You can play with your friend on your own time," Takeuchi interrupted, cutting off whatever Kise was going to say. "This is _training_, so if you insist on being here, I'm going to take the opportunity to teach the rest of my team how to beat you. So unless you feel like giving us an advantage in the upcoming tournaments, you should probably leave."

"Good fucking luck," Aomine snorted dismissively, stepping around the coach and walking close enough to Kise that their shoulders collided as he passed. "No one else is on my level, and this idiot is the only one you've got who can even come _close_ to pretending to be me."

"Awww!" Kise cooed happily as he jogged to the bench, grabbing his water bottle and then directing Aomine towards the locker room. Quickly changing, Aomine rolled his shoulders and neck as he walked back out, grabbing a ball and dribbling it a little. Kise stood up to meet him, but a sharp look from his coach had him sitting down again, pouting a little about being left out.

"Who's first?" Aomine said, cockily planting one hand on his hip as he stood and dribbled on the spot. The other second and third years looked amongst themselves, all of them having encountered him before and not exactly willing to offer themselves up to the slaughter.

The first years, on the other hand, seemed to know him by reputation alone and were apparently raring to try taking him on.

Three quick baskets and a couple more that were drawn out to show off later, the first years weren't so eager any more. By the end, Aomine wasn't feeling any less restless than he had at school, and he casually threw the ball in a lazy hook shot as he turned to the coach, hearing the ball neatly swish through the basket.

"Let me play Kise."

"Whatever," the coach huffed, clearly done denying the fact that his training session had been turned into a circus sideshow. Kise practically bounced out of his seat and onto the half-size training court, beaming so much he was almost sparkling.

"We haven't played together in ages, this is great!"

Aomine just quirked an eyebrow, taking up his position at the centre of the three point line. Kise walked to the centre of the key, and in the split second as he turned to face Aomine, the power forward could have sworn that a switch had been flipped in him.

Wide, excited eyes narrowed and his grin became a smirk, sending a spark of anticipation down Aomine's spine. Their meeting at the second year Winter Cup had ended in Kaijou winning, and so with their official tournament standings at one win each, Aomine was actually _eager_ to see how Kise had improved since then.

Apart from Kagami, Kise was the only other player who could stand toe-to-toe with Aomine, so it was always fun to go against the blond.

For the first few rounds, neither played anywhere near their full strength, Aomine coming out ahead but the Kaijou players whooping loudly every time Kise managed to take one over him.

Things eventually started to escalate, every slightly faster spin and drive from Aomine countered by a stronger steal or higher jump that were awfully reminiscent of Kagami's leaps and Murasakibara's looming blocks.

However, maturity and training had let Kise start to develop his own moves, flashy yet functional techniques that sometimes managed to start to push Aomine's limits. He'd found that simple one-on-ones weren't enough to let him enter the zone, so he was left relying on his normal strength to keep a few steps ahead of Kise, and it felt like the gap between them was smaller than it used to be.

The idea was exciting in a way he couldn't say he'd experienced in a very long time, his heart racing and sweat dripping down his face as they went back and forth, knocking the other's shots off course and making increasingly ridiculous drives and steals.

Aomine's formless shot was slammed out of the air, Kise somehow managing to dart around and grab it before going wide to the edge of the court, taking a second too long to set up a high, Midorima-style shot and allowing Aomine to _just_ tip it. Grabbing the rebound, Aomine quickly ducked past the three point line to reset the attacking player, drawing Kise close before dribbling behind his back to fake out Kise with which way he was going.

The way Kise caught up and blocked his path was definitely one of Aomine's moves being used against him, and Aomine couldn't help but bare his teeth as he spotted the opening Kise had accidentally made. Kise's copies were never _quite_ as strong as the originals, especially as he didn't appear to have activated his perfect copy, and so Aomine drove hard into Kise's weak spot, skidding around him and forcing a dunk past the hand that tried to knock the ball off course.

"That's ten to seven," the coach called, "so you two get off my court and let me make sure the others learnt something from this."

Kise swept his hair back from his face and took a step, but adrenaline made his body shake now that he wasn't focused on playing and he swayed awkwardly, grabbing the closest solid object and holding on for dear life. As it turned out, that object was Aomine, who scowled at the gross feeling of hot, sweaty hands on his arm.

"Sorry, Aominecchi," Kise grinned tiredly, pushing back onto his own two feet but still swaying. "Guess you're still just a _little_ better, but I promise I'll change that."

The dangerous glint was gone from his eyes, now that the game was over, and Kise stiffened when Aomine sighed and grabbed his arm, slinging it over his own shoulders and practically dragging the blond to the locker room.

"Stop being an idiot and actually get good before you try to beat me."

Dumping his opponent on one of the locker room benches, Aomine ignored Kise's over-the-top gratitude, casually stripping his clothes and stepping under a shower. For a brief second, he could have sworn that Kise was staring at him, but he shook off the feeling as post-game euphoria, focusing instead on getting the sweat off his body before getting back into his school uniform.

Kise was a little slower, moving like all his joints were stiff, and Aomine vaguely noted that the blond had apparently put on a bit more muscle over the past couple of years. It looked like the photos he'd seen over Kise's shoulder in the shopping mall hadn't been _quite_ as photoshopped as he'd thought.

Shaking his head at the weird thought, Aomine wandered out of the dressing room without a word, taking out his phone and hitting the first speed dial number. He'd have to deal with Momoi's bitching at some point, and he figured it would be less painful sooner rather than later.

The yelling coming from his phone cut over anything the Kaijou members tried to say to him as he walked out of the gym, and as the warm weather outside washed over him, Aomine let himself smile faintly, actually hoping that Kise would make good on his promise sometime soon.


	5. Meetings

Kise idly tapped his fingers on the side of his plastic Starbucks cup, trying not to think about how much sugar was in the sinfully sweet flavoured coffee. He knew he'd work it off playing basketball later, but it was a little too easy to internalise the health-conscious views of the fashion industry.

In any case, he'd much rather focus on his (platonic) date, smiling at him over her own cup. Thursday coffee sessions with Momoi were quickly becoming a tradition, even if they'd been going for less than a month. The American-style coffee houses were usually busy enough that no one noticed the model and his friend, something that Kise had become increasingly aware of since the blog incident a few weeks prior.

He didn't want to get a big head about his admittedly C-list level of fame, but it wasn't like he wanted to subject his friends to scathing fan attitudes. He'd originally tried keeping up with the fan blogs to make sure they weren't spreading bullshit about people who didn't deserve it, but it was just too unnerving to see pictures of himself doing ordinary things like leaving training and shoe shopping.

So now he was relying on Momoi to tell him if anyone else had approached her, but it was incredibly likely that she was keeping any such incidents to herself. He would extend the same concern to Aomine, but anyone stupid enough to approach him most likely deserved whatever outcome they got.

"So you're sure that no one's been bothering you?"

"Don't worry about me, Ki-chan," Momoi smiled in a way that wasn't exactly innocent. "I can deal with these things on my own, everyone has secrets they don't want getting out."

For the millionth time, Kise thanked his lucky stars that Momoi was his friend and not his enemy; she was just too powerful.

"Still, you shouldn't _have_ to deal with this kind of thing. It never used to be like this." A major campaign he'd been involved in a few months earlier had seriously boosted Kise's popularity, and considering that no one else he'd ever been friends with had faced this level of scrutiny, he had to assume that the extra attention was because of that shoot.

"Ki-chan. It's fine."

"Alright," Kise replied, holding his hands up in surrender. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, seeing a reminder on the screen. Tipping back the last of his drink, he sighed and crushed his cup, smiling apologetically at Momoi.

"I've got a meeting with my manager, so I gotta go. I already pushed it back as late as I could."

"I should get back and make sure that Dai-chan is training properly," Momoi said with an eye roll, collecting her things after finishing her own drink. "Do you want me to walk you to the station?"

"Oh, no need to go out of your way," was what he said, but they could both hear the real reason underneath it all: '_I don't want you to be harassed for being seen with me'._

"Nonsense," Momoi said pleasantly enough, but her tone left no room for arguments. "I want to spend a bit more time with you."

He couldn't have stopped the dumb smile that broke out on his face if he'd wanted to, and he felt happy and warm as they walked out of the store and into the pleasant weather outside. Their conversation was as unhurried and natural as ever, and although Kise found himself looking around a few times for phones or cameras pointed in their direction, he forced himself to calm down and just enjoy the company.

It was almost a shame to reach the station and have to say goodbye at the top of the stairs, Momoi giving him a hug before disappearing off back to Touou. It had been a fun afternoon, even if it had begun with a lecture about calling her if Aomine ever turned up at Kaijou without warning; Kise hadn't exactly considered the fact that he'd been skiving off his own practice, but luckily Momoi didn't seem to blame him at all for Aomine's behaviour.

A short train ride later and he was walking up to his manager's office, just another nondescript space in a nondescript building. His manager, Nahoko, was a woman in her mid-thirties, pretty enough to have been in show business herself if she hadn't decided to go into the administrative side of things. She'd been working with Kise since he'd started modelling seriously, and he trusted her to always know what moves were going to be best for him.

That was why he found himself bringing up the whole situation with Momoi, taking the opportunity to ask Nahoko if there was anything they could do to stop his friends from being bothered by too-forward fans.

"Well, maybe it might be a _good_ thing for people to think that you have a girlfriend." Nahoko knew that Kise was gay, had been the one to encourage him to keep it relatively under wraps; even in the modern day, it would have killed his career. He didn't exactly like it, but it was also good to be able to keep his private life, well, _private_.

"I don't want my friends being bothered by fans."

"It's something that you might just have to get used to, Ryouta."

"_I'm_ already used to it," Kise protested, tapping his fingers along the arm of the chair he was sitting in. "I just don't want _them_ to be bothered, they never asked for this."

"There's maybe one thing we can do," Nahoko said after a pause, eyebrows furrowed in thought. Pushing her chair back, she opened a nearby filing cabinet and flicked through it, pulling out a plain folder and holding it towards Kise.

Inside was a small pile of documents, the top one attached to a headshot of a young woman with straight, dark hair and a bright smile.

"...And this is?" Kise asked, dropping the file onto Nahoko's desk.

Opening the folder again and tapping the photo, Nahoko sighed like it was obvious. "This is Matsuo Ari. She's an up-and-coming actress on our books, in her last year of high school just like you. Recently there have been some..._unsavoury_ rumours floating around about her, most likely started online by another girl at her school. It'd be good for her to be seen with a steady boyfriend."

"And you want _me_ to..."

"Young, handsome model, never in trouble, a prolific high school athlete on top of it all. It would just be for publicity, of course, because she's not interested in dating and you're not interested in _her_, but it would be fantastic exposure for both of you. Not to mention it will help prove the rumours about her wrong, and it will stop people from thinking that you're dating your friend."

"...I don't know," Kise said, frowning as he thought about the whole proposal. "Wouldn't that just make her a target for my fans? I don't want to put anyone else through that, either."

"Ryouta, Ari is an actress, and one with a fanbase of mostly younger females. If they think she's dating you, they'll love her even more. Besides, she's used to publicity, because unlike your friends she worked to be in the public eye."

"Look," Kise sighed, just wanting to go home. "Can I take some time to think about this?"

"Of course!" Nahoko smiled, looking far too smug. "Just call or text me when you decide."

Wrapping up the last few things they had to go through, Kise said his goodbyes and walked out of the office, the idea of a fake relationship- with a _woman_ at that- running through his mind. The train carriage was quiet as he made his way back to Kanagawa, and he took the opportunity to pull up his biggest fan site on his phone, wondering if there was anything new on there.

Predictably enough, the latest post was a blurry photo of him hugging Momoi outside the train station. These girls worked _fast_, and Kise felt an irrational amount of guilt at Momoi being dragged into all of this again.

Maybe Nahoko had a point. Maybe it would be best for everyone if he agreed to be seen out with Matsuo, to take her to a few events and get the heat away from Momoi.

And maybe he could use the distraction. Being able to invest some time in a relationship, fake or not, might help him take his mind off the uncomfortable, awkward crush he'd somehow managed to develop on Aomine.

Really, _that _was something he was going to put off dealing with for as long as possible.

Sighing heavily as he tucked his phone back into his pocket, Kise settled back in his seat, wondering just how long he should wait before calling Nahoko and telling her that he was willing to go long with the charade.


	6. Absence

_To: Kise  
>Subject:<br>Message: 1 on 1?_

Tossing his phone aside so that it bounced harmlessly on his bed, Aomine shoved his feet into his basketball shoes, wondering if it was about time to buy a new pair. By the time his phone buzzed, he'd finished shoving all his stuff into his bag, and was searching his messy room for his pumped-up basketball.

_From: Kise  
>Subject: Re:<br>Message: Sorry Aominecchi, I'm gonna be busy all day today __ｍ__(__｡≧__Д≦__｡__)__ｍ_  
><em>Maybe some other time?<em>

Shrugging as he read the message, Aomine didn't bother replying and instead shot off a text to Kuroko, telling him to bring Kagami to a court relatively between their houses. He figured that Kise was just off at a photo shoot, and considering how things had been going recently, he assumed the blond would pop up sooner or later and want to play.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Momoi was coming to his house to try and force him into learning <em>something<em> before a big test, and she'd mentioned something about seeing if Kise needed any help with the same subject. Although Aomine wasn't planning on doing much work anyway, he wasn't going to argue with her, because he figured that having Kise there would mean that half of Momoi's focus would be turned away from him.

However, when she wandered into his living room- they were so far past using doorbells by this point- Aomine was a bit surprised to see that she was alone. It was starting to feel like Kise was around quite a lot of the time, between the one-on-ones that had become more frequent for them and the blond just joining them to hang out or study, and so going back to just he and Momoi was...weird.

Not particularly good or bad, just _weird_.

"The idiot not coming?"

"These scores seem to show that _Kise_ isn't the idiot here," Momoi said disapprovingly, holding up a wrinkled piece of paper that Aomine could have sworn he'd left scrunched up in the back of his locker. "And no, he has...other plans today."

Even with Aomine's usual obliviousness to emotional cues, it seemed like Momoi was going to say something else before she paused; he didn't get too much time to dwell on it though, as a heavy textbook was immediately thumped down on the coffee table in front of him, Momoi smiling in a way that promised hours of boring tutoring.

At least if Kise had have been there he'd have someone to rib on and mess around with, and Aomine actually felt himself wanting Kise's presence, if only because maths was the worst thing on the face of the planet.

* * *

><p>He didn't quite realise how long it took before he saw Kise again, the blond joining himself and Momoi at a cramped ramen shop one Sunday afternoon. Aomine was shoving down his food as fast as he could while Momoi and Kise discussed something that he really wasn't interested in; he just wanted to get done so that they could go and play on a nearby court.<p>

The sound of the door opening didn't particularly catch his attention, but he noticed Kise look up and go quiet and so spared a quick glance over his shoulder. An older teenage girl with an annoyingly flat chest stood in the doorway and Aomine immediately turned back to his food, which was clearly the more interesting of the two things. He'd forgotten she existed before he'd even swallowed the next mouthful.

He didn't notice Kise getting ready to leave until the blond's half-full bowl was pushed toward him and clinked gently against his own, the gesture making him look up in question.

"Weren't we gonna play for a bit after lunch?"

Kise's expression looked sad for a second before his annoyingly plastic grin was back, Aomine only barely resisting the urge to cover his eyes from the imagined brightness of it all. "I forgot about this other thing I already agreed to do. We'll play sometime soon okay, Aominecchi?"

"Whatever," Aomine grunted as he went back to eating, barely bothering to look up again until both his and Kise's bowls were empty. Although he felt jittery and wanted to be on the court after he finished eating, he nodded when Momoi suggested that they go browse the latest ranges of basketball shoes, and the basketball in his bag went untouched for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>The next time Aomine saw Kise, it was as a flash of blond walking by the court where he and Kagami were playing one-on-one after school. Kuroko and Momoi were quietly talking to the side of the court, and so Aomine turned to them when Kise simply waved and kept going, rather than stopping to join as Aomine had expected.<p>

"What the hell?"

"You're going to have to be more clear, Aomine-kun." Scowling at Kuroko's quiet condescension, Aomine abandoned the current point and wandered off the court, gesturing in the direction that Kise was rapidly disappearing in.

"What's up with Kise? I figured he'd want to stick his nose in here like he does everything else."

"Did he not see-" Kuroko asked as he turned to Momoi, watching as she shrugged helplessly in return.

"I don't think he's worked it out yet, Tetsu-kun."

"Worked _what_ out?" Aomine grumbled, folding his arms over his chest as he waited for an answer. The other two just looked at each other, although Aomine could have sworn that they were having some kind of weird telepathic conversation.

Before he could find out what they were on about though, the sudden pain of a basketball hitting him radiated down from the back of his skull, and he snapped around to face Kagami with a dark glare. "The _fuck_ is wrong with you, Bakagami?"

"I'm not the one who suddenly stopped playing in the middle of a point!" Kagami yelled louder than the situation called for. "So that makes us six baskets each."

"Oh hell no," Aomine snarled back as he jogged to get the ball from where it had rolled after bouncing off his head, "That last one doesn't count, I wasn't even playing."

"Then you shouldn't have wandered off like that."

As he promised to wipe the floor with Kagami's stupid smirk, Aomine promptly forgot about whatever it was that Momoi and Kuroko were keeping from him, instead focusing solely on the big red idiot between him and the basket.

* * *

><p>He and Momoi were having a lazy day at his house the following weekend, Aomine laying on the couch and simply enjoying watching a recording of an NBA match while Momoi took notes on plays and patterns that Touou could take inspiration from.<p>

Although it took him the majority of the first half to realise, Aomine found himself scouring the screen for one single player time and time again, instinctively paying more attention every time number twenty-four took possession.

Something about the way the man moved was familiar, and as the third quarter began, Aomine suddenly clicked that the way the man played was strangely reminiscent of a certain blond. Deciding that he wanted to know if Kise had ever noticed the same thing, he flicked open Kise's contact in his phone and set it to call, switching to loudspeaker and dropping the phone on his chest so that he didn't have to look away from the TV to type.

Momoi made an annoyed sound at the loud ringing coming from tinny speakers, but Aomine ignored her as the phone rang...and rang...and_ rang_.

Eventually a computerised voice prompted him to leave a voice mail and he jabbed the end call button, finally tearing his eyes from the match so that he could glare at his phone. "Since when does Kise not answer calls?"

"Ki-chan has a _job_ and a _social life_, unlike somebody else I could name," Momoi murmured as she kept watching the screen. Scoffing, Aomine shoved his phone back into his pocket and returned his attention to the game.

"He's been busy a lot lately."

"Oh, so you finally noticed?" Momoi asked innocently enough, setting down her notebook and turning in her chair to face Aomine. "Maybe if you paid the slightest bit of attention to your friends, you'd know why."

Aomine didn't bother moving his gaze from the screen as he said matter-of-factly, "I'm not friends with Kise."

"_Daiki_," Momoi said firmly, and Aomine shuddered at just how much she sounded like his mother, "Just yesterday you were complaining that he hasn't played one-on-one with you in ages. You even noticed that he hasn't been around in a while, and you didn't notice the time Sakurai-kun injured his ankle and didn't train with you for a month."

"So?"

"_Ugh_," Momoi exclaimed, turning back to face the TV with a flick of her pink hair. "I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Whatever," Aomine grumbled, specifically _not_ focusing on number twenty-four for the rest of the match.

* * *

><p>In the end, Momoi's refusal to talk didn't even matter. While waiting for training to start a couple of days later, Momoi having herded him to the gym much earlier than usual, Aomine's nap on the stage area to one side of the gym was rudely interrupted by a nervous-looking first year.<p>

"A-Aomine-senpai?"

"Huh?" Aomine grunted, opening one eye and staring down his team mate.

The kid fiddled with the hem of his shirt and Aomine sighed, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "What is it?"

"You know Kise Ryouta, right?"

"Yeah," Aomine said slowly, wondering exactly where this was going. He'd had a few girls ask him the same thing over the past couple of years, but somehow he didn't think this kid wanted the model's phone number.

"Do you think you could get Ari-chan's autograph for me? My..._sister_ really likes her."

"...Who?" Aomine didn't have the time or the inclination to try and figure out what the fuck the kid was talking about.

"Matsuo Ari? Kise-san's girlfriend?"

"His what?" Aomine asked flatly, honestly wondering if he was still asleep and this was all some sort of weird dream.

"Kise-san _is_ dating Ari-chan, right?" The kid looked just as confused as Aomine felt, and so Aomine caught Momoi's eye from across the gym, beckoning her over. When she popped up, he just waved his hand at the first year and laid back down, closing his eyes to make it look like he wasn't listening to every word.

After the kid explained himself again, Momoi talked him out of whatever he thought he was going to achieve and sent him off. She sat down next to Aomine, prodding him in the leg with her foot. "I know you're not really asleep."

"Kise has a girlfriend?"

"...Yes." Momoi's hesitation was weird but Aomine let it go, instead wondering why it felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. It wasn't like Kise had never had a girlfriend before, right? There'd been...

Aomine frowned when it occurred to him that although Kise was often followed around by crowds of girls, he couldn't actually remember there being one who was his _girlfriend_. He did vaguely remember that one girl at Teiko who declared herself to be Kise's girlfriend until Haizaki had gotten involved, but he also recalled Kise spending quite a lot of time complaining about the fact that he couldn't get rid of her.

"And that's why he hasn't been around lately?"

"Yeah."

"...Oh."

Aomine's shots just didn't hit the mark during that training session.


	7. Crush

It didn't take long for Momoi to figure out what Kise was doing.

At first she'd assumed that all she was hearing were baseless rumours: some of the less-reputable blogs creating a fantasy couple and then passing it off as fact for the page views. She knew better than most that the smallest hint could be blown out of proportion and then treated as gospel.

But then the celebrity sites, the ones that tended to be _somewhat_ more truthful in their constant surveillance of sorta-famous young actresses, picked up the story of the young woman and her less famous but still known model boyfriend.

Finally Momoi had found herself staring blankly at the newest post on Matsuo Ari's Instagram page, a photo in which it was blindingly obvious that the guy with his arms casually draped over Matsuo's shoulders and grinning at the camera was one Kise Ryouta.

Momoi couldn't say that she knew _everything_ about the world of show business, but she had at least been confident that she knew almost everything about Kise. He'd told her to her face that he was gay, and yet it was looking more and more likely that the gossip about the blond and Matsuo was actually true.

Nothing was adding up, though. The caption seemed to imply that they were celebrating some kind of anniversary, more than likely a couple of months, and Momoi knew that just couldn't be true. It wasn't anything that an ordinary person would be able to figure out, but from all the time she and Aomine had spent with Kise recently, not _once_ had he mentioned a girlfriend or even someone else that he was spending time with on a regular basis outside of his _male_ basketball team.

Momoi's intuition was telling her that something odd was going on, and she knew that she couldn't just sit by without figuring it out.

Typing out a quick message on her phone, Momoi sat it to one side and pulled out a textbook, pretending she was focusing on anything other than the silent, motionless device.

_To: Ki-chan_

_Subject: ?_

_Message: Congratulations on finally settling down, Ki-chan. I didn't exactly think she would be your type, though._

She didn't get anything done as the minutes stretched on, to the point where she found herself wishing that Aomine wasn't out with Kuroko. Having him around to focus on would be a million times better than blankly staring at the same page for ten minutes and jumping at the slightest sound.

When her phone finally chimed, she almost cheered out loud, but cut herself off by clearing her throat even though no one else was around to witness anything she said or did.

_From: Ki-chan_

_Subject: Re: ?_

_Message: I don't know what you mean, Momocchi. Matsuo is so smart and kind and gorgeous and talented, of course she's my type._

Even though Kise wasn't an actor, Momoi had thought that even models needed to be at least a _little_ good at pretending. The list of things so glaringly wrong with his text had instantly proved that he was lying: the lack of kaomoji or even just exclamation marks, combined with the fact that he'd used his "girlfriend's" last name without even adding his usual ending, was just so obviously out of character.

Her reply was terse.

_To: Ki-chan_

_Subject: Re: Re: ?_

_Message: Please don't lie to me._

Prepared for another lengthy wait, Momoi turned back to her book, only to jump in her seat when her ringtone blared louder than she'd expected. The display showed that Kise was actually calling her and she frowned, connecting the call and holding the phone to her ear.

"I'm _so sorry_," Kise immediately said in a hushed voice, and Momoi knew that he'd be wailing it dramatically if he could. It made her smile for a moment, before she remembered that she was annoyed.

"I don't know what's going on," she started, stalling a little now that she'd been put on the spot, "but I won't like it if you just lied to me."

"Look, I can...actually, just one moment, Momocchi, I promise." The speaker crackled and then all the noise muted, like Kise had put his hand over the microphone. There was muffled whispering in the background, and Momoi raised an eyebrow in indignation that Kise couldn't see.

"Okay Momocchi," Kise said after a few moments, sounding stressed enough that Momoi felt a little bad about confronting him. "I can tell you everything, but I can't do it right now. Is Aominecchi with you?"

"No, but I can get him here fairly soon."

"_Don't_!" Momoi pulled the phone away from her ear as Kise coughed awkwardly, apparently embarrassed by his sudden loud outburst. "I mean, it's okay not to bother him. I'm not too far away, is it okay if I come over?"

Knowing that this was her only chance to get proper answers, Momoi agreed, although Kise still sounded harried when he said his goodbyes.

It certainly wasn't a productive hour as she waited for the doorbell, practically flying out of her seat when it sounded so that she could beat her parents to the door. Kise's greeting bow was as tense as she'd expected, but she had to admit that the presence of a shorter girl next to Kise caught her off-guard.

Although it admittedly wasn't necessary, Matsuo Ari politely introduced herself to Momoi, who returned the gesture and then invited them both inside, repeating the whole thing with her parents before finally being able to usher them into her bedroom.

The silence was awkward as Momoi looked between the pair, noting that although Matsuo's body language was intimate towards Kise, the blond seemed to be relaxing away from her.

Turning her full attention to Kise, Momoi didn't bother beating around the bush as she asked, "So you said you would explain all of this?"

Matsuo was visibly worried, almost like she was tensing up just as much as Kise was relaxing, and Momoi tried to smile gently at her. "I promise, whatever's going on, it won't leave this room. Ki-chan is one of my best friends and I just want him to be happy."

"Momocchi, that's so _sweet!_" Kise gushed, his eyes shining until Momoi raised an eyebrow at him and he immediately became serious again. "Alright, fine. Matsuo-chan's a friend, but she's not my _girlfriend_. Our agency set up our 'relationship' for publicity. We both know it, and she knows that I'm gay."

"This is ridiculous," Momoi announced, determined not to get sucked in by the way Kise pouted at her. Turning to the girl who was quietly staring into her own lap, Momoi tried to gently encourage her to speak. "Matsuo-san, are you really okay with this?"

Fidgeting with her clasped hands, the other girl didn't look up for quite some time, but when she did Momoi was taken aback by the way her eyes blazed with sudden anger.

"I _hate_ it," she snarled, her features still pretty even in her rage. "Kise-kun is a perfect gentleman and I'm thankful that he's helping me, but I hate the fact that I have to do this. Everyone thinks that just because I'm single, I must be sleeping with directors to get parts, when I just want to focus on my career instead of keeping a partner happy."

Kise was wide-eyed as he started at his fake girlfriend, but Momoi was thankful that he didn't try to interrupt.

"I'm _damn good_ at what I do, but no one takes me seriously unless they think I have someone holding my leash." The last sentence was angrily spat out, and then Matsuo visibly deflated, looking down again. "For now, this is the best way to handle things. I'm happy to help Kise-kun out, I just hate that I need his help in return."

"It's the same for me. I'm happy that I can help you, but it's not fair that we have to hide like this. Still, it shouldn't be for too long, at least."

Watching the way Kise squeezed Matsuo's hand, Momoi's heart ached for the pair of them and she wished that she could tell them that it wasn't worth it.

But she'd seen the horrific things that were written about Matsuo Ari, and she was more than aware of the fact that even now, it was rare for a Japanese celebrity to get good work once they'd been outed- not to mention the effect it would have on his athletic career. Before she even realised what she was doing, she'd stood up and swept Kise into a tight hug, feeling him clutch at her just as tightly.

His eyes were wet once she let him go and stood back, and she handed him a tissue before regarding Matsuo. Her movements were more restrained as she gestured towards the girl, taking her wobbly smile as permission to wrap her in another tight hug.

When Momoi was finally back in her own seat, the other two looked happier, although Kise wasn't quite at his usual levels of exuberance. There was a definite wobble to his voice when he spoke up again, looking Momoi directly in the eyes.

"Please don't tell Aominecchi about this."

"I don't like keeping things from Dai-chan..."

"_Please_," Kise practically begged, and Momoi suddenly connected the dots between a few things she'd noticed about her two boys over the past few weeks. "Please don't tell him, Momocchi. I don't want him knowing why I'd need a fake girlfriend in the first place."

Although Momoi didn't think something like that would be a problem, she just nodded. "I won't tell him. I suppose it's not his business in the first place."

Kise's gratitude was overblown but clearly genuine, and the air was a lot lighter as the conversation became more general, the pair eventually standing up to leave. Momoi caught Matsuo before she could leave the room, slipping her a scrap of paper with contact details neatly written out on it.

"Just in case you need to talk to someone."

Matsuo's smile was almost as blinding as one of Kise's, and Momoi felt like she'd done the right thing as she saw them out. As much as she hated the idea of keeping a secret from Aomine, it wasn't her secret to tell; and besides, she was fairly confident that Aomine wouldn't notice or care that Kise had found himself a girlfriend.

* * *

><p>For once, Momoi had to admit that she was wrong.<p>

* * *

><p>"What is your <em>problem<em>?" Momoi found herself snapping almost two months later, finally sick of Aomine's nonsense.

He'd been so much better for so long, and now he was acting like the brat he'd been in first year all over again. Refusing to act like a proper human being, sleeping instead of going to class, acting like training and his team were beneath him; she was quickly reaching the end of her rope.

Aomine barely even reacted to her, instead just staring blankly past her from where he was lying to one side of the gym while the rest of the team trained.

"_I'm serious_," she snarled, crouching down to get in his face. "Why have you been acting like such a child lately?"

Aomine just grumbled and Momoi threw her hands up in disgust, stomping out of the gym while wondering why she'd even bothered to try and reason with that idiot.

She loved him but he was just the absolute _worst_. She wondered if the obvious crush Kise had on him would persist if the blond knew he'd regressed so badly; Kise hadn't seen Aomine since their brief encounter at the courts with Kagami, but he'd been keeping up with Momoi and now that she was aware of his poorly-hidden feelings she just kept hearing it in everything he said.

She was glad that she had him- and even Matsuo now, considering how often they messaged each other- since Aomine had decided to be a little shit all over again. It had been weeks, and she couldn't quite pinpoint a reason.

He'd been fine even after Kise had started appearing less...in fact, it seemed almost like...

Momoi stopped in the middle of the pathway she was walking down, ignoring the pair of first-years who complained quietly as they quickly had to dodge around her.

If she had her times right, then Aomine's return to ridiculous behaviour would damn near coincide with him finding out about Kise's girlfriend. There's no way he would be jealous of Kise, considering that Matsuo was about as far from his type as someone could be; but Momoi couldn't shake the feeling that Aomine's issues were linked to Kise.

Hurrying home with a newfound sense of urgency, Momoi immediately set to remembering everything she could about Aomine's attitude towards Kise.

She had to know if she was on the right track.


	8. Sleep

Looking back on it, Kise should have known that there was something odd about Momoi's request.

He hadn't spent any time with Aomine in weeks, but instead of helping him break his crush, the distance was just making him sad. He tried distracting himself with work, with Momoi, with basketball and with Matsuo, but everything reminded him of Aomine and it was making him _hurt_.

It wasn't working, and so when Momoi messaged him asking if he could help Aomine study while she was away for the weekend, it only took a little convincing and pleading to get him to agree. Even beyond his dumb _feelings_, he missed his friend. Although Momoi had informed him at their weekly coffee dates that Aomine had been in a snit for a while, that sort of thing wasn't going to discourage him.

Not to mention the fact that he didn't want to let Momoi down. She was one of the only people who knew the truth about his relationship with Matsuo, and she'd been so good to both of them. Kise was going to be in her debt for a long time, and he was just so, _so_ thankful that he had her as a friend.

So even though it was _hours_ earlier than Kise would usually get up on a non-work weekend, he was making small talk with Aomine's mother and trying to avoid her attempts to feed him. Eventually giving her a dazzling smile, Kise slipped out of the room and headed for Aomine's bedroom, stifling a yawn along the way as he wondered why Momoi had organised for them to meet up so early in the morning.

Still, he wasn't going to complain about being handed such a perfect excuse to see Aomine.

Quietly pushing open the door to Aomine's bedroom, Kise couldn't help but smile as he looked at the scene in front of him. Aomine was thoroughly burrowed in under the covers, his messy bedhead and loosely opened mouth looking _far_ more adorable than Kise thought could possibly be good for his health.

He didn't realise how long he'd been staring until Aomine suddenly rolled over and faced away from him, muttering something about how he wasn't going to get up yet. Rolling his eyes, although not able to get rid of his dumb fond grin, Kise walked over and went to copy what he'd seen Momoi do on more than one occasion, grabbing the edge of the blankets and going to pull them off the bed.

He caught himself just before doing it though, freezing with the blankets in his hand and staring suspiciously at the back of Aomine's head.

"Are you wearing clothes this time, Aominecchi?"

"...No," Aomine eventually muttered drowsily, his voice muffled by the pillow he'd shoved his face into. The idea of Aomine being naked _and_ in bed right there in front of him had arousal hitting Kise in his gut, but he pushed the feeling away and told himself that this was _not_ the time for that.

"I don't believe you," Kise managed to say, trying to keep his voice as stern as possible. Ducking around to the other side of the bed, he bent down until he was almost at a face-to-face level with Aomine, whose eyes were still firmly shut.

"Momocchi will kill both of us if I don't get you up, so I don't care if you're naked or not, you're getting out of that bed."

Aomine briefly cracked his eyes open and glanced at Kise, visibly doing a double take when he finally managed to process exactly who was standing there. "Kise?"

Laughing at how badly Aomine functioned just after waking up, Kise sat down on the edge of the mattress, prodding at what he assumed was Aomine's torso under the covers. "Momocchi said she warned you I was coming."

"No," Aomine grumbled, making Kise poke him again.

"No?" The blond asked, very quickly realising how little their time apart had done for breaking his crush. He shouldn't have been so thoroughly charmed by Aomine's tired, monosyllabic muttering, and yet...

"Satsuki didn't say."

"What?" Kise asked, wondering if that was true or if Aomine was just forgetting things again. "She told me that you wanted help studying, but she's away."

This time, Aomine sat up and fixed Kise with a stare, although his eyes were still unfocused and sleepy. "Why would I get _you_ to help me study?"

Frowning, Kise realised how little sense Momoi's explanation had actually made. He'd managed to avoid Aomine for weeks, if not months, and then out of the blue Momoi asks him to help Aomine with _school work_, of all things? Sure, Aomine didn't have a whole lot of friends, but there were definitely others who were more qualified to help someone study.

He'd been so anxious about the thought of getting to spend time alone with Aomine that he hadn't even considered how weird the whole situation was. Apparently his self-imposed distancing had made him stupid as well as sad.

Although Momoi hadn't made any mention of the fact that Kise had been fair obviously avoiding Aomine, Kise realised that she must have known the whole time. The only sense he could make of this whole situation was that it must have been her way of getting them back together again.

Kise didn't have it in himself to be mad at her for lying to him, not when he was getting hit by his crush coming back full-force.

With a groan, Aomine flopped back on the bed, pulling the covers up as much as he could with Kise still sitting on top of them. "Going back to sleep."

"Hang on," Kise said before he could stop himself. "I came all the way here, and you're just going back to sleep?"

"Yep."

"_Aominecchi_," Kise whined, grabbing Aomine's blanket-covered shoulder and giving him a gentle shake, "That's so rude!"

"Don't care," Aomine grumbled, tugging on the blankets until they were covering his face. Kise pouted about the fact that he couldn't see Aomine at all any more, but it quickly became a mischievous grin when an idea struck him.

"I'm not going home. I got up early to come over, and I'm too tired to go home right now."

"Don't care," Aomine repeated, although this time it was hard to hear past all the blankets. Shrugging, Kise stood up and moved back to the other side of the bed, thanking everything he could for the fact that Aomine had a large bed with more than enough room for two people.

Still a little bit wary of- and slightly turned on by- the knowledge that Aomine _might_ have been naked under the covers, Kise settled for laying down on top of the blankets, turning his head to the side and suddenly realising how much of Aomine's scent had soaked into the pillows.

"What're you doing?" Aomine grumbled, although he made no move to push Kise off the bed or even bother uncovering his face. Kise figured that was as good as permission, when it came to Aomine.

"You said you didn't care what I did, so I'm taking a nap." Getting his phone out of his pocket, Kise switched it off and sat it on the floor beside the bed, dropping his wallet there as well before rolling over to face Aomine.

The lump of blankets completely obscured whatever Aomine said next and Kise grinned as he closed his eyes, realising that he was feeling peaceful and relaxed for the first time in weeks.

He'd been played by Momoi, and he was now realising how much of an idiot he was for thinking that time away from Aomine would help him, but Aomine was falling asleep next to him and for just a few moments, he could let himself believe that this was _real_.

He wasn't sure how long he was asleep for, but when he next woke up it was because Aomine was stirring, slowly pushing away his blankets and sitting up as he ran a hand through his hair.

"You're still here," Aomine frowned, sounding more alive than he previously had but still not entirely awake.

Kise grinned up at him, feeling his heart melt at how _good_ Aomine somehow managed to effortlessly look. Later, he'd blame everything on the fact that he had just woken up and was still half-asleep, despite the fact that his thoughts were crystal clear about how hard he _wanted_.

Levering himself up into a sitting position, Kise didn't give Aomine a chance to react before he leant forward, pressing his lips against Aomine's dry, slack ones.

Pulling back without attempting to deepen the kiss, Kise looked up through his messy fringe at Aomine. The look of shock and what seemed to be disgust sent panic racing through Kise, and his heart pounded as he fumbled for words, an excuse, an apology, _something_.

"A-Aominecchi, I-"

"Don't you have a _girlfriend_?" Aomine spat out, cutting Kise off completely. Getting out of the bed and taking a couple of steps back, Aomine glared down at Kise, wiping his lips off with the back of his hand. "You think I'd do that? You think I'm that kind of person?"

"I don't un-"

"_Get out_," Aomine snarled, and the rejection hurt so much that Kise barely even noticed that Aomine was not, in fact, naked after all.

Feeling tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, Kise quickly leant down to grab his phone and wallet, not bothering to pocket them as he found his feet and _ran_ out of the room. He barely slowed down until he was at the station, locking himself in a bathroom stall and wiping ineffectively at his tear-stained cheeks.

He was sure that Aomine hated him now, hated that he was gay, hated that he was weak enough to develop feelings for a straight friend. He needed someone to talk to, someone who actually cared about him.

His finger hovering over Momoi's contact details on his phone, Kise realised with a start that in this situation, she would _never_ take his side. Aomine was like a sibling to her, and Kise couldn't begrudge her for inevitably picking Aomine over him.

Scrolling up slightly, Kise picked another contact, only barely hearing her cheerful greeting as the call connected.

"_Matsuocchi_," he sobbed, not caring if anyone just beyond the locked door was listening, "I fucked up. I fucked _everything _up."


End file.
